Abstract

This article asks, ‘how do practitioners understand the relationship between the prime minister, ministers and the rest of Westminster and Whitehall?’ We focus on three topics. First, we review tales of a Blair presidency. Second, we explore the governance paradox in which people tell tales of a Blair presidency as they recount stories of British governance that portray it as fragmented with several decision-makers. Finally, we argue that this paradox reveals the distorting influence the Westminster model still exerts on many accounts of British politics. It acts as a smokescreen for the changes in executive politics.

13Matthew Louis Bishop, Slaying the ‘Westmonster’ in the Caribbean? Constitutional Reform in St Vincent and the Grenadines, The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 2011, 13, 3, 420Wiley Online Library

14CHRISTINE BELLAMY, THE WHITEHALL PROGRAMME AND AFTER: RESEARCHING GOVERNMENT IN TIME OF GOVERNANCE, Public Administration, 2011, 89, 1, 78Wiley Online Library

15David Richards, Helen Mathers, Political Memoirs and New Labour: Interpretations of Power and the ‘Club Rules’, The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 2010, 12, 4, 498Wiley Online Library